Tag Archives: identity

Bible Study, Shoreline 101, Vision

I.D. – Our Salvation

April 14, 2019

Galatians 3:26-28

When someone asks for our I.D., they want to know who we are and where we live. Not just any I.D. card will do. When the police officer asks for our I.D. we don’t give him our library card! We give him our driver’s license that is issued by the government of the state in which we live.

Our spiritual I.D. centers around the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ in Whom we celebrate our salvation. It is the spiritual DNA of the body of Christ and it defines who we are, why we are here, and what we do.

This first of our 5-lesson series will focus upon how a person becomes a follower of Jesus Christ and a member of Christ’s church. What is the core belief that draws all of us together at the Shoreline Church? 

At the conclusion of the lesson, our shepherd, Dean Wolf, will offer some comments and reflections about the lesson and what it means for our Shoreline Church family. His key text is Romans 8:9-17.

I.D. – Our Salvation

Shoreline 101

IDENTITY

Identity is important. It is good to periodically reflect upon the shared beliefs that bring us together in Christ, to consider where we are going and to reaffirm our plan for getting there. For seasoned members of churches, these points of identity reassure and give hope. For newer members and our honored guests they offer hope and promise for the future.

In churches identities change. As the hairs of members grey and the culture around them shifts and transforms, living congregations must adapt and change without compromising their identity in Christ. That is why it is important to reaffirm core values and beliefs now and then.

I.D. FOR FIVE WEEKS

For the next 5 weeks, including Easter Sunday (April 21) we will be focused upon those values that hold us together as the body of Christ. We will also be pointing to those values that we share with fellow believers in Christ that allow us to strive for the singleness of purpose for which Jesus prayed in the garden:

20 “And I ask not only for these disciples,
    but also for all those who will one day
    believe in me through their message.
21 I pray for them all to be joined together as one
    even as you and I, Father, are joined together as one.
    I pray for them to become one with us
    so that the world will recognize that you sent me.
22 For the very glory you have given to me I have given them
    so that they will be joined together as one
    and experience the same unity that we enjoy.
23 You live fully in me and now I live fully in them
    so that they will experience perfect unity,]
    and the world will be convinced that you have sent me,
    for they will see that you love each one of them
    with the same passionate love that you have for me.

– John 17:20-23, The Passion Translation

Our 5-Week Series Begins April 14, 2019:

April 14 – OUR SALVATION: Who are we?

April 21 – EASTER: The Core of Our Faith.

April 28 – OUR STATEMENT: What do we believe?

May 5 – OUR STRATEGY: Where are we going?

May 12 – OUR STRUCTURE: How are we getting there?